First of all, I predicted a loss because I’ve been wrong the past few weeks, noticed the streak, and prayed that streak would continue. Luckily, it did. In short, I’m predicting loses the rest of the season.
The good: some diversity in the play calling. Sweeps, vertical passing, etc. The offensive line blocked better. I still see Grant Johnson and Mike Remmers missing blocks left and right, but at least none of them killed us in this game. On defense, I liked what I saw–in limited time, granted–from Taylor Henry. Good edge rush, good speed, got the lone sack of the game. Also, Hardin looks excellent in coverage. Not just the interception but all around coverage. Another player who stood out at times was Lagrone. There were plays where he was completely over-matched, but at other times he was very disruptive. I think a DL of Henry, Terry, Paea and DT2 (whoever it may be, they’re all equally ineffective) would be the best combination moving forward. A CB lineup of Clark and Hardin with Dockery as a nickle back would be ideal as well. Collins was definitely better than #28 in coverage tonight, but like most of you saw, he isn’t a great player at this point. Lance Mitchell again showed that he is the best player on this defense.
The Bad: Yes, more diverse play calling, but the sweeps and deep balls still went to the Rodgers brothers. There were times where it was clear as a limpid pond that the ball was going to be a handoff to Quiz, a bubble screen to James, or a fly sweep. I sat here, drinking wine out of the bottle, dribbling down my shirt-less chest, saying to myself, “here comes play xyz”…sure enough…even the Canfield int was predictable. The Beavs lose focus for a quarter each game. Tonight it was the 3rd quarter. Usually they come out strong, and it’s the 2nd and 3rd quarters where they suddenly get worse ADD than a young Japanese boy playing Super Famicon. But, they fought through it. A minor peeve of mine was hanging off twice to Quiz before halftime. The guy does not need to take the brunt of those meaningless caries–it’s why we have backups. Riley’s choice to go for the 53 yard FG was also terrible coaching. Otherwise, solid if not glamorous game.
On deck: Stanford.
I didn’t watch the game. It sounds like they still don’t have a down-the-field receiver like Sammy Stroughter or Mike Hass or T.J. Houshmandzadeh, a dimension they really need. It would make the Rogers brothers so much more effective.
Oddly enough, James was that downfield threat tonight. He had a couple of big plays downfield that really made our night. Unfortunately tonight we didn’t really have long sustained drives, we had consectutive big plays. I am not complaining about the scoring, get the points any way you can, but I would love to see this offense make long sustained drives for 5+ minutes that result in six. One thing that I think is really missing is the component Shane Morales gave us last season. If we can hit those middle routes for 12-15 yards our offense becomes a lot more dynamic. I think that we may be avoiding that play call because canfield has a history of throwing picks over the middle. Overall, good win but definitely would love to see this team keep improving.
As I wrote in my in-game notes, the line hasn’t proved they can gel for more than a handful of plays, so long sustained drives would require (a) eliminating holding and false starts or (b) overcoming holding and false starts when they happen, and the Beavers don’t execute well enough to do either. I don’t think we’ll see a six minute sustained drive that results in six for a while.
Dockery as only the nickel back?
“Lance Mitchell again showed that he is the best player on this defense.”
Wow, those are a couple laughers.
Dockery is the best cover corner we have right now, and I know you feel you have to hate Kristick because a girl gave him a silly award one week, but did you not notice how much the D suffered when he was not in there? Keaton K is our most valuable defender, and the hardest player to replace, with Paea running 2nd. I like Mitchell a lot, but he is not our best player on D by a good margin.
I will agree on the call for the 53 yd. FG being a bad one.
Ted, are you going to continue to show up and say I dislike Kristick because a girl gave him the Giant Killer award, and will you also continue to show up and ask when I’ve been to practice and demand to see my receipts? Because without it, my life will be incomplete.
Lance Mitchell is our best defensive player. And Hardin should start.
Dockery is fine, I don’t have a problem with him, but Hardin is just better because he’s more aggressive, in control, looks back for the ball, makes plays (e.g. int, huge hit on special teams), etc.
I agree that Mitchell is a good player but Kristick may well be our best player. What we need is a strong vocal leader on D, I wonder if Mitchell can provide that (Kristick doesn’t). Also, Hardin is a good player and has made some huge special teams plays. I would not be surprised if Banker rotated Hardin, Doc and Clark basically all season. I think we have a ton of solid defensive players so I am a little confused about why they continue to let teams sustain drives. I am not one to question banker but this may be related to game plan and play calling. My biggest gripe is with the DE’s but that position seemed to improve last night with LaGrone’s performance.
LaGrone was good at times and completely out of the play at others. If you Tivo the games I suggest going back and watching. It’s interesting. He’s definitely more disruptive than Frahm, though. Taylor Henry had a few great speed rushes, one of which netted him a sack. Why not make him a 3rd down specialist if he has that kind of talent? Why did it take this long to put him in a game?
I wish the OSU media would ask these types of questions. Maybe Riley would have a valid explanation. Speaking of which, Riley was told he could have challenged the (clear) fumble in the Cincy game and he simply “choose not to burn a timeout”…Why???! Nobody asked the obvious question on that one either. We all agree a turnover > timeout, right?? Why not challenge? The decision at the very least demands a follow up question from the media and expounding by Riley.
Its snowing like made in Bend right now ….
I guess this all goes to show why I am not in Vegas betting on college games.
(1) I thought OSU would beat UA
(2) I thought CAL would stomp UO
(3) I thought CaL might upset USC
(4) I thought ASU would clobber OSU in the desert
(5) I thought UW would get steamrolled by USC.
Did anyone get a case of deja vu watching the OSU game last night? Didnt ASU look a lot like OSU 8 years ago? Personal fouls, stupid penalties, mouthing off. Noticed how ASU is leading the PAC-10 in penalties … just like OSU used to do under Erickson.
I thought Mike Riley did a great job getting the Beavers ready for ASU.
Overall, good eval of the game AB. Agree with the observations. My takes on this:
1. Fly sweep – every team is ready for it, it’s getting old and predictable. Need to spice this up by adding some misdirection to it – add a reverse, or a pass option, or just make play action off it and pass to opposite side. D expects this and overplays it, unless OSU adds some surprises, it’s kinda lost its effectiveness.
2. O-line was better, but still not good enough. Is this an experience and knowledge issue (knowing assignments, learning to play together), or is this mainly a talent issue?
3. Really like Adeniji – he could blossom into a stud receiver, kinda reminds me of a young TO with his size (sans the crap attitude though)
4. Defense overall was so-so. Really disappointed they couldn’t stop ASU during last drive (yeah, i know, it was meaningless and burned clock, but i hate prevent D – if that’s what they were actually running).
5. Agree FG attempt at 53yds was ridiculous – as already stated, would have been better to go for it on 4th, likely outcome wouldn’t have been any worse, and could have converted. Kahut still makes me nervous.
7. Canfield – looked better tonight, good to see him airing the ball out more (yes, had more time in pocket, which helps). He still threw a few boneheaded ones into double/triple coverage, but all in all an improvement.
8. OSU still not strong enough yet to counter the momentum shifts in games – as you said, the 2nd/3rd qtrs, and Canfield’s pick, were very predictable. I said 2 plays prior that he would throw one, you could just FEEL it coming. Luckily in this game it didn’t kill them.
Trolling the AZ boards, ASU fans want Erickson’s and Sullivan’s heads after this game. No surprises, they have no respect for OSU, they believe they lost to a lesser team. One good post though – tshirt spotted in crowd that said: “ASU is a drinking school with a football problem” HA! LOL!
Good stuff AB, enjoy your reviews and setting the bar high for realistic fans who want OSU to be competitive.
Dennis Erickson does seem to have lost his mojo. With the exception of Miami, ASU is the best football school he’s coached at, by which I mean good stadium and facilities, good tradition, good budget, warm weather, and ease of recruiting. No one expected him to flounder.
Whenever I think of Dennis Erickson, I think of Calvin Carlyle. And whenever I think of Calvin Carlyle, I think of stupid personal fouls that allowed opponents to extend offensive drives that should have been easily stopped. And when I think of stupid personal fouls, I think of OSU teams under Erickson that routinely committed 10-12 penalties per game, but not a peep out of that guy about how such a thing might be unwanted.
Which is fine I suppose as long as the team remains successful. Which ASU is currently decidedly not.
Yeah, but i wasn’t just Carlyle. It’s a problem with Erickson’s teams everywhere. It’s his coaching style. I’m sure he’d rather not have the 15yd penalties, but he seems to accept them as an unfortunate by-product of keeping his teams on edge and emotionally involved. After Erickson left OSU It took Riley a couple of years to eradicate that behavior from the players he inherited. It’s a big part of why Erickson got a reputation for running a sort of rogue or “outlaw” program. But that’s not my biggest issue with Erickson. I don’t like the way he has continuously jumped ship at various places he’s been. I’d never trust him again to be the Beav’s coach.